Carpet stretcher



Feb. 27, 1962 E. A. DAHLKE CARPET STRETCHER Filed March 28, 1960 NN NNw, mw www 1N VENTOR. Erb/f7 Q Da/ke BY www Q. @mi Nw mwa United StatesPatent() 3,922,979 CARPET STRETCHER Edwin A. Dahlke, 29S W. Green BaySt., Shawano, Wis. Filed Mar. 28, 1960, Ser. No. 17,900 2 Caiins. (Cl.254-62) This invention relates lto improvements in carpet stretchers,having a movable head drivable by the cam nose of a simple lever.

The purpose of this invention is to generally improve upon and simplifythe construction of carpet stretchers, and particularly to provide arelatively short and simple carpet stretcher for use in narrow placessuch as hallways.

An object of this invention is the provision of an economical, simple,and strong carpet stretcher, that will perform its function with aminimum of moving par-ts.

Another object is to provide a carpet stretcher having positive lockmeans for positively locking against unwanted reverse movement of thecarpet stretcher.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a carpetstretcher operable through simple lever means.

Yet another object is to 'provide a carpet stretcher operable throughsimple lever means having a cam nose for driving a carpet engaging head.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a carpet stretcherhaving an independently movable carpet engaging head.

Still another object is to provide a carpet stretcher having a carpetengaging head, cam actuated in both extended and retracted operation.

Other specific objects and many of the attendant advantages of thisinvention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which likereference numerals designate like parts throughout the figures thereofand wherein:

FIG. l is a plan View of the carpet stretcher invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of FlG. l, showing the carpet stretcherin extensile and retractile positions;

FG. 3 is a front elevation view of FlG. l;

FG. 4 is a section View taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FiG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the working end of a leverembodied inn the carpet stretcher;

FG. 6 is an enlarged plan view of a U-shaped bearing plate embodied inthe carpet stretcher; and

FIG. 7 is a fractional section view showing a modification of theinvention.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference charactersdesignate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views,there is shown in FIG. 2 an extensible body member, generally indicatedat l0, comprising a pair of elongated wood bars 11 and 12, superimposedone upon the other, for sliding engagement of the upper over the lowerbar, in a longitudinal direction. Elongated L-shaped guide bars 13 and14 are provided to guide said wood bars, relatively longitudinally, andretain them together. Said L-shaped guides are invertedly disposed, withtheir short leg7 portions or flanges 1S and ,dZZ Patented eb. 27, i962and 16, respectively, therein, ilush with the top surface of top bar 11.

The top bar 11 is provided with a backwardly slanted bore 21, and thebottom bar 12 is provided a plurality of suitably spaced lower bores,such as indicated at 22, each aligned with said upper bore 21. When thebores of the lower bar are in register with the bore 21 of the upperbar, at any selected degree of extension of the body member 19, the barsmay be temporarily locked in such extended position by means of headedpin 23 which may be removably inserted in the bores from above. The pin23 is of a length to extend through both of such registered bores. rheslanted character of the bores and the pin therein, tends to force thetop bar more tightly onto the bottom bar as compressive stresses areprogressively induced in the body 10, as when the carpet stretcher isfunctionally applied in a carpet stretching operation.

A cord 24, secured to the pin 23 and fastened to top bar 11 throughmeans of eyebolt 25, secures the pin against accidental loss.

A rectangular wall-abutting block 26 is secured transversely to the endof lower bar 12 by means of screws such as indicated at 27. The loweredge of said block is chamfered at 2S to provide clearance for iioormolding. The wall-abutting block 26 includes a pad or surfacing of softmaterial 29 secured to the outer face of said block to provide acushioned abutment to a wall surface or base board to avoid scratchingor denting of the latter.

Upholsterers round headed nails such as at 31 are driven into the loweredge of the block 26, to raise the block for additional door moldingclearance, and which are adapted to contact a carpet and slide freelythereon.

The forward end of lower bar 12 is likewise provided with round headedupholsterers nails, such as indicated at 32, for ease of sliding on acarpet.

The top bar 11 is centrally slotted through at its forward end portion,as at 33, to receive a simple iirst class lever 34 pivotally mountedtherein by means of fulcrum pin 35 fixed transversely in bar 11. Anelongated slot 36 in communication with slot 33, is provided topartially receive lever 34 atlits lowermost or working position 37. Thisslot receivably accommodates the lever in a substantially horizontalworking position when the lever has been moved to its limit of downwardmovement. The lever end y39 is adapted to engage a spring latch 39 tohold down the lever, in its lowered position, against the stressestending to raise the lever induced by a carpet stretching operation.

A hand grip 4l is fixed on the end of lever 34, as by means of screws42, to protect an operators hand from the sharp lever edge, and providea large bearing area for the application of a manual force.

The working end of the lever 34, see FIG. 5, is provided with a turneddown nose portion 43 having a rounded cam end portion 44. The fulcrumpin 35 is received in and through aperture 45.

A carpet engaging head 46 is movably carried under the forward endportion of upper bar 11 through means of a U-s-haped guide member 47mounted over the bar 11 and secured to said head 46 by means of screwssuch as indicated at 48, see FIG. 3.

Said carpet engaging head 46 includes a plurality of forwardly slantedprongs such as indicated at 49, see FIG. 2, for gripping a carpet.

To avoid scratching a floor or tearing the carpet padding often laidbeneath a carpet, a plurality of gauge screws areV seagate provided,such as indicated at 51, see FIG. 3, screwedinto the bottom side of thecarpet engaging head, between the prongs. The screws Si may beadju-stably backed out, as indicated by the dotted line position 52, toregulate the effective length of the operative prongs 49, that is, thelength to which the prongs may eiciently penetrate a carpet.

A U-shaped bearing plate`53, see FIG. 6, is xed on the inner edge of thecarpet engagin-g head 46 as by means of screws Sd. Said bearing plate isprovided with a pair of spaced outstanding apertured ears 55 and '56 towhich are secured tension springs 57 and 58, which are in turn anchoredto screws 59 and 61, respectively, screwed in the underside of bar Il.

The top side of the forward end portion of bar 12 is provided with apair of spaced slots 62 and 63, to receive tension springs 57 and 5Stherein, for clearance when the extensible body member 1G is retractedto its limit, said limit occurring when the rear end of bar il abuts thewall abutting block 26.

Springs 57 and 5S are initially tensioned to urge and bias the carpetengaging head 46 against the cam nose 4d of lever 34. When so tensionedthe head 46 follows the cam nose 44 when the head 46 is retracted.Except for the spriu-g stress thereon, the head is independentlymovable, fore and aft, by manual operation if desired.

Operazion-This carpet stretcher is particularly designed for stretchingcarpets of relatively narrow hallways, but can be adapted for large roomuse it' proportioned accordingly. At the outset the operator adjusts thegauge screws 51 of the carpet engaging hea-d, according to the thicknessof the carpet to be stretched, to permit suitable penetration of theprongs without endangering the door or carpet pad.

When a carpet is to be stretched, it is laid on a door and anchoredalong one wall by tasking down the carpet adjacent said wall and thenstretching the carpet toward the opposite wall, using the carpetstretcher described herein, both for stretching the carpet and forholding it in a stretched position while it is being tacked along itsother edges. In lieu of tacking the carpet to the floor, a carpet may-be held secure by what is known in the trade as a tacking strip, thatis, a special strip of tack retaining material, laid along the base ormolding of the walls.

To accomplish the stretching, the carpet stretcher is adiusted to asuitable length by means of pin 23, and the padded end 29 thereof isabutted against the base board adjacent that edge of the carpet that isrst tacked down. The carpet engaging head 46 is laid on the carpetadjacent the opposite carpet edge. The lever handle is raised to thesolid line position 34 of FIG. 2, and the prongs pressed into thecarpet. As the lever handle is lowered to the dotted line position 64,the nose cam 44 causes advancement of the carpet engaging head 46 to thedotted line position 65 thereby stretching the carpet. Upon lowering thelever handle to its lowermost position 37, the head 46 is additionallyadvanced, and the carpet additionally stretched, and the lever handle isthen engaged with spring latch 39 to hold down the lever and maintainthe carpet in a stretched condition ready for nailing. After the nailingdown of the second carpet edge, the lever handle is released fromengagement with latch 39, and the lever handle raised to allow thecarpet engaging head 46 to retract and disengage from the carpet throughmeans of the tension in springs 57 and S8.

The carpet stretcher can now be carried to a suitable adjoining carpetzone and the above cycle of operations repeated until the carpet as a-whole is stretched and secured.

FIG. 7 shows a. modiiication of the above described carpet stretcher. Inthis modified construction the wear plate 66 is provided with a pair ofelongated apertured spaced ears such as indicated at 67, with a pin 69in said apertures. The cam end 7,1, of the lever, is receivedsubstantially contined between the pin 69 and the body of the wearplate, so that the cam simultaneously engages the ear plate 66 and thepin bearing member 69. Said simultaneous engagement arrangement providesa construction 'of no lost motion. Obviously, wearing of the associatedmember will eventually result in some wear and insignificant lostmotion. The cam is dimensioned and configured so as to be operativelyengaged substantially simultaneously with both the wear plate 66 and thepin 69, fore and aft, respectively, for best operational results. Whenthe lever is raised to the solid line position 72, the rearward edge ofthe cam engages pin 69 and retracts the carpet engaging head 73; andwhen the lever is lowered to the dotted line position 74, the forwardedge of the cam engages wear plate 66 and advances the carpet engagingead to dotted line position 75. This construction provides means forpositively driving the carpet engaging head in both advance andretractileoperation.

Some characteristic features of this invention are the provision of acarpet stretcher operable through simple lever means having a downturned cam nose for driving a carpet engaging head; the provision of acarpet stretcher design reduced to a simple lever mechanism; theprovision of a carpet stretcher having an independently movable head;the provision of a carpet stretcher having a positively locking latch;the provision of a carpet stretcher having a minimum of moving parts;the provision of a carpet stretcher of simplified construction for usein narrow places such as hallways and the like; and the provision of camactuated carpet engaging head, actua-ble fore and aft, positively.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention arepossible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to beunderstood, that within the scope of the appended claims, the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as speciiically described.

What is claimed and desired to be protected by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

l. A carpet stretcher, comprising: a iixedly adjustable extensiblestructure comprising two elongated members arranged for relativelongitudinal movement; carpet engaging head means on one end portion ofsaid extensible structure, mounted for longitudinal sliding movementrelative thereto; a slot through the above said end portion, disposedrearwardly adjacent said carpet engaging head means; a lever having itsworking end extending through said slot and its handle end'disposedlongitudinally over said extensible structure, said working endcomprising a down turned portion, relative to the lever handle, andhaving a curvilinear cam end slidably engageable with the adjacent edgeof said carpet engaging head means, for camming said head means forwardresponsive to downward movement of the handle end ot' said lever;fulcrum pin means mounted across said slot for pivotally supporting saidlever as a irst class lever; spaced ear mem-bers mounted on said carpetengaging head means and projecting rearwardly thereof beyond said camend; and a bearing member connected across said ear members, saidbearing member being disposed adjacent the rearward edge of said cam endwhen the forward edge of said cam end is engaged with the carpetengaging head, for camming said head means rearward responsive to anupward movement of the handle end of said lever.

2. A carpet stretcher, comprising: a txedly adjustable extensiblestructure comprising two members arranged for relative longitudinalmovement; carpet engaging head means disposed under an outer end portionof a irst of said elongated members and mounted thereon for longitudinalmovement relative thereto; a longitudinal slot through the outer endportion of said first elongated member, disposed rearwardly adjacentsaid carpet engaging head means; a lever pivotally mounted as a rstclass lever in said slot, said lever having its working end slidablyengageable with said carpet engaging head means for driving said headVmeans forward responsive to a downward movement of the Ilever handle,and the lever handle end disposed over and along said extensiblestructure; and a bearing member mounted on said carpet engaging head andengageable with the rearward edge of the working end of said lever fordriving said head means rearward responsive to an upward movement ofsaid lever handle. 5

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS298,521 Truslow May 13, 1884 10 6 Norton Nov. 15, 1910 Bartlow June 24,1930 Brook Mar. 29, 1932 Cathcard Oct. 10, 1933 Bartlow Aug. 10, 1943Bartlow Sept. 19, 1944 Owens Aug. 12, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS France Nov.17, 1934

